MIDAD

The inaugural exhibition of the El-Nimer Collection, Midād presents over 75 pieces from the eighth to the twentieth centuries, alongside five new commissions from contemporary artists.

The exhibition investigates the ways in which Arabic calligraphy has throughout history mirrored notions of the public and private, the political and personal, the performative and poetic, as well as the literary environments of its time.

Unbound to chronology or geography, Midād explores Arabic script’s development, transformation and diverse application over time and across the world. Beyond the texts they contain, manuscripts, panels, ceramics, textiles and tools are objects that have been redefined by a process of circulation in different social, geographic and cultural contexts of history.

This talk attempts to answer questions about Diallo’s life, examining his time and circumstances as a slave in the United States, reasons for his travel to England, and his interaction with both societies

The book invites the reader to explore the worlds of Arabic calligraphy, its ever-changing expressions, and its meaning, from proclamations of authority in the public sphere to intimate beliefs about the power of the Word